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Faith

             And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

Today’s verse is another of those “non-magical” statements in Scripture. If you mention faith or belief, some people assume magical thinking is involved. But if you want to buy something, you go to a place you believe has it. You have faith that it will be there and you’re disappointed or even irate if they don’t. Anyone who earnestly seeks God would be a fool to seek what he/she doesn’t believe exists (or believes doesn’t exist.)

So, logically, it’s simply ridiculous to think that one can please God without believing that God exists. And while God may bless people even if those people don’t seek Him, they would not associate what they receive with the idea of a reward. Only those who believe in God would think that His response to their seeking is a reward given to them by the One they seek. None of this is as difficult was we (and I’m including myself at the top of the list!) like to pretend it is.

One more bit of simple logic. If you seek God and get God, you’ve been rewarded. If you are seeking a mountain of gold or power, and you “only” get God, you’re likely to feel cheated. In fact,  you’ve received something better than the gold or power, but you aren’t likely to think you’ve been rewarded. If you seek God, get God, and also get gold or power, you would do well  to remember that the gold and power are blessings. 

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